review by: Laurent Martini

The fist time I heard this album I was soaked to the bone with the best champagne punch I ever had and I loved it. The second time I was freezing while sitting in my kitchen, and I still loved it. Sideman is good. Sideman is really good.

There is no denying here that João’s biggest influence is Bowie. The whole album reminds me of what Bowie’s "Five Years" would have sounded like if that song had spanned a whole album. Mesmerizing guitar work reminiscent of early Smiths along with Joao’s voice, at times played through a reverb machine - perfectly ghost like - make this is an album that would have been a smash in the 80s. But nostalgia aside the album is still outstanding.

Listening to "Frank Furious" is like finding a lost tack from Bowie’s Low and "Dark of Heartness," with its deep bass line, is the perfect soundtrack to traveling in a jungle on your way to meet an overweight Marlon Brando. Perhaps the strongest quality to Sideman is João’s ability to craft such wonderful lyrics that, although if read without the music sound a bit daft, but make wonderful and memorable songs. (9.5/10)